Instructor: Ken Hansen
Clint Durrant
Assassination of JFK, cover up or conspiracy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy also known as a respected man, JFK would not stand to be
trifled with or forced to go against his morals, he was a man that stood by his word. He was a
man with a dream of a better and safer America for all who lived on her soil; he brought hope
to the young, old, rich, and poor. On the day of his assassination the world wept, the people of
America and the world could not believe that this iconic man was gone and his visions of hope
and peace for the world had died with him.
JFK’s assassination shocked the American people they could not believe that a lone
gunman could have killed this giant of a man. Instantaneously people began believing that
there had to be something bigger behind his death. JFK’s brother Robert Kennedy was the first
person to believe that JFK’s assassination had to be a conspiracy and that it involved the CIA,
and the SS (secret service) (Robert Kennedy would never live to uncover the truth about his
brothers assassination). Soon the rest of the country would start to question the events of 1122-1963, pointing fingers at the CIA, FBI, SS, Soviet Union, and organized crime.
The question still remains today if JFK’s assassination was one angry man acting out or if
there was a bigger agenda and JFK had gotten in the way and now had to be eliminated. For me
it is simple I believe that JFK had gotten in the way of the Washington D.C political machine and
had to be eliminated. The CIA, Lyndon Johnson, Soviet Union (KGB), and the SS all had a part to
play and something to gain from JFK’s assassination. I will make a connection between these
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people and organizations and JFK. I will attempt to answer the question why JFK had to be
assassinated.
To know an individual better, one has to look at the past events of that individual’s life.
President Kennedy did not choose to be in the political spot light, JFK had been forced into the
political arena by the death of his older brother Joe Jr. During World War 2 Joe Jr. Kennedy had
been on a secret mission against a German rocket launching site when his plane unexpectedly
exploded1. JFK’s father Joe Sr. told him “it was his duty to fulfill the destiny once intended for
Joe Jr.: to become the President of the united States1.”
JFK had plans to become a journalist, it was not his intention to be involved in politics
much less become the most powerful man in the world. With the change of events within the
Kennedy family (the loss of Joe Jr) his father had placed the mantle of the Presidency upon his
shoulders. Rather than rejecting his new destiny JFK embraced it by preparing to run for
congress in 1946.
JFK fit the mold of a Politician for the time period of post WW2. He had served in the
Navy during WW2 as an officer in 1941. JFK had been put in command of a patrol-torpedo
boat1, during 1943 a Japanese Destroyer struck his PT-109 craft. JFK helped some of his men
back to the safety of Solomon Islands, for his acts of heroism JFK received the Navy and Marine
Corps medal.
January 1947, JFK made his move into the 80th congress, instantaneously JFK received a
positive welcome, people were glad to see a young and energetic individual running for office.
1
www.history.com/topics/john-f-kennedy
2
The older, more traditional members of congress criticized JFK for his youthful appearance and
relaxed, informal style1 in the political arena. However, the older generation held distain for the
young congressman, but the people in his district who admired JFK, carried him to win
reelection in the House of Representatives in 1948 and 1950.
1952 JFK took another crucial step to becoming president of the United States of
America. JFK ran for the senate and successfully defeated his incumbent opponent, Republican
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr1. With all of JFK’s success he still had one more thing to do that would
ultimately ensure his seat in the oval office, his marriage to socialite and journalist Jacqueline
Lee Bouvier1.
JFK began his run for presidency in 1956. On January 2nd 1960, JFK started his campaign
to run for office. JFK had many challenges to overcome; he defeated Herbert Humphrey who
was his primary challenge. JFK then chose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate, shortly after,
JFK battled for the presidency with Richard Nixon. Who currently had been a two term vice
president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. JFK defeated Richard Nixon by a narrow margin for the
presidency making him the youngest and first Roman Catholic to be elected president of the
United States1.
President Kennedy was one of the world’s most powerful and popular figures in history.
The American people, as well as foreign, people loved him. While the Kennedy family occupied
the White House, they drew attention; they (Kennedy family) then would be compared to King
Arthur’s court at Camelot. However, JFK’s marriage in the White House was not enough for this
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young ambitious president. Stories began to circulate about his infidelities and his personal
association with organized crime2.
JFK’s first crisis as president started a few months after his inaugural address. CIA had
approached President Kennedy to approve a secret mission to send 1,400 CIA trained Cuban
exiles to start a rebellion and over throw Cuba’s communist leader, Fidel Castro. This mission
was known as the Bay of Pigs and ended in an epic failure and tarnished the President’s foreign
affairs. Castro’s army defeated, captured, or killed all 1,400 CIA trained rebels. Because the Bay
of Pigs ended in disaster the CIA again had approached JFK with a new mission to deal with
Cuba, called Operation Mongoose, Kennedy’s administration approved this operation. The main
goal of operation mongoose was to target and destabilize the communist government that
Fidel Castro created. In addition, Operation Mongoose would be used to assassinate Fidel
Castro if the communist government could not be destabilized. I believe that the Cuban
government played a part in the JFK assassination for two reasons. One, because, JFK disrupted
Cuba’s relationship with the Soviet Union preventing them from building missile sites in Cuba
that threated the United States. Second, is because information leaked to Castro about the U.S.
Government possibly planning his assassination. My reasoning for this explanation simply based
on my research, six weeks before JFKs assassination Castro gained knowledge about the U.S.
Government plan to assassinate him. It is my opinion that the Soviet Union gained information
about the U.S. governments plan to assassinated Castro. The Soviet Union then leaked that
information to Castro.
2
www.history.com/kennedy-becomes-fourth president to be assassinated
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Later that year in June, JFK met with Nikita Khrushchev, he was the Soviet leader. They
met in Vienna to discuss the future of Berlin divided by WWll, between Allied and Soviet
control2. Two months after the meeting with Kennedy and Khrushchev the East German troops
built a wall that divided Berlin in two.
October of 1962, Kennedy and Khrushchev disagreed on the Cuban missile crisis.
American intelligence obtained knowledge that the Soviet Union was constructing long range
nuclear missile sites in Cuba. The Soviets were using Cuba to threaten the continental United
States by the perceived notion that the Soviet Union would threaten to launch nuclear missiles
from Cuba against American. Kennedy acknowledges the threat and sent a naval blockade to
Cuba as a deterrent against the Soviet Union. Khrushchev refused to dismantle the nuclear
missile sites resulting in a standoff between Russia and America that lasted for two weeks.
Khrushchev later agreed to dismantle all the missile sites in Cuba2. Before Khrushchev would
agree to dismantle the Soviet Union’s missile sites in Cuba, Russia made America promise to
remove their missile sites from Turkey, and other sites around the Soviet Union and to not
invade Cuba after Russia left. In July 1963, Kennedy, earns a big win with his foreign policy and
against the communist Soviet Union. Khrushchev agrees to join Kennedy in Britain to sign a
nuclear test ban treaty; Britain’s Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan also signed the treaty.
However, I believe Russia was involved in the assassination of Kennedy. JFK dealt a devastating
blow to Russia by making Khrushchev sign the nuclear treaty. This showed the world that Russia
was not a power to contend with, this was a direct insult to the Soviet Union. This insult would
show the world that the Soviet Union would weaken and crumble. I have no doubt that
Khrushchev, was biding his time, and was planning to use the KGB to assassinate Kennedy. He
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would only have to wait a few months until Lee Harvey Oswald came to petition Russia for
citizenship.
Lee Harvey Oswald was born October 18, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother
Marguerite Oswald sent him and his two older brothers to live in an orphanage after their
father had passed away3. His mother remarried for only a few years, after that marriage failed,
Marguerite Oswald took her children and moved to the Bronx of New York. During Oswald’s
childhood he was left to fend for himself with little or no adult supervision due to his mother
working long hours3. During this time Oswald spent the majority of his time at the public library
and developed a habit of skipping school. Nothing in Oswald’s childhood shows that he had any
violent tendencies or abnormal behaviors. The only odd behavior he showed was being
emotionally detached due to the lack of parental guidance3. This leads me to conclude, Lee
Harvey Oswald, could have easily been manipulated by other parties to assassinate JFK. These
opportunities made Oswald feel accepted and part of something bigger than himself. In
addition, Oswald developed an interest for socialist literature at a young age. This socialist
behavior would eventually manifest later in life. Eventually Oswald moved back to Louisiana
with his mother, where he would join the US Marine Corps in 1956. During his training in the US
Marine corps, he had one exceptional quality that made him stand out above the rest in his
division; he became an expert in marksmanship. However, that was the extent of Oswald’s
exceptionalism and discipline. By today’s standards in the military, Oswald would have been
considered a dirt bag for his inability to acquiesce. Oswald had been court martialed twice in
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1958 for possessing an illegal weapon and violent behavior3. A year later, Oswald ended his
military service and prepared to leave the United States for Moscow.
Upon Oswald’s arrival in Moscow he informed the Russian authorities that he wanted to
become a citizen of the Soviet Union. Once this information reached the government officials
inside the Soviet Union there was some debate accusing Oswald as a possible spy. During the
course of this debate over Oswald the KGB watched him closely. Information had been released
from an ABC News interviewer with Oleg Kalugin, who was an intelligence officer with the KGB.
Oleg was the youngest person to rise to a general’s rank in the KGB history. He defected to the
United States in 19904. During Oleg’s interview, questions were asked about Oswald; Oleg
mentioned Oswald arrived in Russia in 1959. Oswald was a former marine claiming to be a
Marxist and wanting to defect from America to the Soviet Union4. The KGB viewed Oswald, as a
CIA agent after an extensive search into Oswald’s background. They found out he would be an
unlikely candidate for a CIA agent, but the KGB still, thought, they had a need for Oswald4. The
KGB thought of recruiting Oswald, but they determined he would be of no use to the KGB. KGB
determined based upon there surveillance Oswald was a misfit and an angry man 4. They felt he
would be a blunder and confuse assignments and he could potentially blow KGB or any agents’
cover.
However, Oleg Kalugin defected from the Soviet Union to the U.S. I find it hard to
believe he would actual be truthful with any information dealing with the assassination with
JFK. Several times during his interview with ABC News, he hints at possible ties the KGB might
3
4
Biography.com
http://www.abcnews.go.com
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have had with Oswald. However, at the end of the interview he admits they never recruited
Oswald. It is hard to take Oleg Kalugin at face value due to his high rank and position with the
KGB who invented dezinformatsiy in the early 1960’s.
November 22 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated JFK during a visit to Dallas, Texas.
JFK was riding in an open limousine, as the motorcade approached Elm Street. Lee Harvey
Oswald was waiting on the 6th floor of the Texas school book depository building. As JFK’s
motorcade progressed, Oswald was biding his time and waiting for the perfect moment.
Seconds later, witnesses heard 3 shots coming from the 6th floor of the TSBD. As soon as the
fatal shots were fired, Oswald led police on a chase and finally gave up running, then captured
by police thirty minutes later at a local movie theater. Oswald, now in police custody at the
Dallas Police Department goes under interrogation by FBI Agent James Hosty. FBI agent James
Hosty meets with Oswald in homicide room 3175. What was unusual about the room Oswald
was being interrogated in is; there were no cameras or video recording devices allowed during
the interrogation. James Hosty took hand written notes while interrogating Oswald. The notes
revealed Oswald’s trip to Mexico 6 weeks prior to the assassination5. Oswald firmly denied ever
going to Mexico, also his obsession with the communist5. An hour into the interrogation Hosty
had been informed that the FBI had received a top secret communication from the CIA about
confirming that Oswald was in Mexico prior to the assassination5. What is interesting about this
piece of evidence is that the CIA had been following Oswald in Mexico City while he met with
5
cia.gov/lee Harvey Oswald
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the chief assassin Valarie Fladermerovich of the KGB for the western hemisphere5. Hosty was
pulled out of the interrogation room; he was having little progress with Oswald. FBI
headquarters told James Hosty that Oswald had been in Mexico, but they neglected to tell him
about the meeting he had with the chief assassin of the KGB. What is interesting about this
piece of evidence is that the CIA had obtained this information about a month before the
assassination5, also Oswald’s activities in Mexico City were never followed up on and the FBI’s
superiors never allowed James Hosty to complete his questioning of Oswald5. The last piece of
evidence that is most puzzling of Oswald’s interrogation is, James Hosty, was told to not share
any information with the Dallas Police Department. His findings of Oswald being in Mexico and
that he was to gather up and destroy anything relating to Oswald and the assassination of JFK5.
In my opinion, this is key evidence that CIA and FBI had information that there could be an
assassination attempt on a government official and also points to their involvement of
conspiracy and cover up.
Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in JFK’s assassination he may have been the
gunman, but he did not orchestrate the assassination that much is clear due to heavy
involvement from the FBI, CIA, and SS tampering with evidence. On Nov 24 1963, two days after
Kennedy’s assassination Dallas police decided to transfer Oswald to a county jail6. Police led
Oswald through the basement of the Dallas police department the press were waiting to
photograph and question him about his role and the assassination of JFK. Oswald’s fame would
be short lived, out of the crowd of reporters Jack Ruby rushed Oswald, and shot him in the
stomach on national television. Oswald who had been taken to Parkland memorial hospital6,
6
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/jfkruby.htm
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ironically where JFK was taken two days before. Oswald was pronounced dead upon arrival,
forever silencing anymore questioning about JFK’s assassination.
I find Oswald’s assassination disturbing, because he was the prime suspect of the
president’s assassination but yet Dallas police department failed to protect their suspect with
the lack of security. The officers questioned about Oswald’s assassination later recalled seeing
Jack Ruby walking around with reporters and bragging that he had a gun. I believe Jack Ruby’s
involvement was not coincidental, but arranged by certain key officials in Kennedy’s
administration and within the FBI and CIA. Oswald and Ruby were the perfect fall guys because
Oswald had socialist aspirations and Ruby had connections to organized crime, so who better to
pin the assassination/cover-up on than Oswald and Ruby. Oswald had lived in Russia for a few
years and known to be connected to the KGB, who thought of using Oswald as a spy, Ruby’s
connection to organized crime. With backgrounds of these two individuals it would be easy for
certain high ranking Government officials and agencies to say that Oswald acted alone and
Ruby shot Oswald out of anger and pity for Kennedy’s widow6. This would make it easier for
Government agencies to use disinformation to plant false information about the Soviet Union
and organized crime syndicates involvement in JFK’s assassination, which ultimately would
confuse the public and conveniently bury the truth about who actually killed JFK.
An hour after JFK’s assassination Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s Vice President sworn
was into the office of president of the United States. A week later by executive order LBJ orders
a panel or commission created to investigate JFK’s assassination. The members of the Warren
Commission are as follows: Chief Justice Earl Warren, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia,
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Senator John Sherman Cooper of Kentucky, Representative Hale Boggs of Louisiana,
Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan, Hon. Allen W. Dulles of Washington, and Hon. John J.
McCloy of New York7. I feel that LBJ created the Warren Commission to suppress any evidence
of his involvement in the assassination. The evidence shows that what happened, the CIA and
FBI had withheld crucial evidence from the Warren Commission detailing the events of JFK’s
assassination. The Warren Commission, CIA, and FBI withheld or refused to use evidence under
the direction of the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson.
To give you the depth of LBJ’s character, former president Richard Nixon said, “Both
Johnson and I wanted to be president, but the only difference was I wouldn’t kill for it 8” as it
turns out LBJ had reasons of wanting JFK assassinated. JFK and Robert Kennedy had been
gathering evidence about LBJ and his political practices. LBJ had been involved in some
scandals, the Billie Sol Estes scandal of 1961, and the Box 13 Ballot scandal of 1948 8. Lyndon
Johnson and the Kennedys disliked each other so much that JFK had been searching for a new
vice president to replace LBJ for the 1964 election. Three days before JFK’s assassination, JFK
told Evelyn Lincoln8 that governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina would be LBJ’s replacement.
Because of the scandals that JFK and his brother uncovered. LBJ knew he would go to prison for
the part he played in the scandals and feared his political career destroyed. Long before the
Kennedys knew about LBJ being a corrupt politician LBJ had been planning JFK’s assassination.
The day of the 1961 inauguration, Bobby Baker, one of LBJ’s protégé5 told Don Reynolds “that
JFK would never live out his term and would die a violent death8.”
7
8
www.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu
Economicplolicyjournal.com: Lyndon Johnson and the JFK assassination
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I believe that LBJ arranged JFK’s assassination from the assistance of J. Edgar Hoover
chief of the FBI. With Hoover’s help any evidence leading to LBJ’s involvement in JFK’s
assassination would be suppressed. Bobby Kennedy recalled Hoover phoning him to tell him
the president’s been shot. Bobby also recalled that Hoover told him with pleasure9.
LBJ had three years to plan the assassination of JFK; he began planning the assassination
at the Democratic Convention. His inner circle consisted of J Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon, Jack
Ruby, and possibly Gerald Ford. A former Nixon aide said that Nixon and LBJ had a documented
relationship with Jack Ruby; this relationship went back to 194710. LBJ had Nixon put Jack Ruby
on the payroll for the House of Representatives later that year when Ruby had moved from
Chicago to Dallas, Texas10.
It appears many people had something to gain from JFK assassination but Oswald and
Ruby became victims like JFK of the powerful political machine. LBJ gained the presidency;
Richard Nixon gained presidency and Gerald Ford, who was a committee member on the
Warren Commission that was investigating JFK’s assassination. Government contractors and
Texas oil executives also gained from JFK’s assassination. The U.S never pulled out of the
Vietnam War, which was a plus for this small elite group of men to increase their wealth and
influence the government from within.
I have come to the conclusion that Russia and Cuba were not part of JFK’s assassination
and were framed by the United States, CIA, and FBI through disinformation. The U.S
Government used this tactic against the American people to create confusion, they used this
9
www.time.com
Digitaljournal.com
10
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confusion and false information to create a conspiracy and use it as a cover-up to hide the truth
about JFK’s assassination. I believe that Oswald was a victim of opportunity due to his strong
socialist beliefs. The CIA claimed to have observed Oswald in Mexico City visiting the Cuban
embassy and meeting with the chief assassin of KGB. The man who the CIA had claimed to be
Oswald was in fact an agent belonging to the CIA. Lee Harvey Oswald had to be eliminated so
that investigators could not find the inconsistences and trace them back to the FBI, CIA, and
LBJ. Jack Ruby was picked to kill Oswald so that the truth would stay buried and because Jack
Ruby’s affiliation to organized crime would make it look like the mob was associated with JFK’s
assassination.
I have tried to give enough evidence through my research that JFK’s assassination was a
cover-up and conspiracy due to the level of involvement from the federal government, CIA and
FBI. I have proven how the United States Government used Oswald and Ruby’s background
against them to implicate other countries and organizations through the use of disinformation. I
feel that Russia and Cuba should be exonerated, because they had no part in the assassination
of JFK. When accusation of Russia’s involvement started to circulate the KGB open a file on LBJ
beginning their investigation into JFK’s assassination. September 16, 1965 a source from the FBI
inside the KGB:
“KGB headquarters in Moscow to develop all possible information concerning President Lyndon
B. Johnson’s character, background, personal friends, family, and from which quarters he
derives his support in his position as President of the United States. Instructions from Moscow,
it was indicated that “now” the KGB was in possession of data purporting to indicate President
Johnson was responsible for the assassination of the late President John F Kennedy11.”
11
www.economicpolicyjournal.com
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I believe that the corrupt political machine we call the United States Government and two of its
agencies the CIA and FBI eliminated JFK. The man behind the assassination in my opinion was
LBJ. Madeline Brown, LBJ’s mistress, asked LBJ if he had any involvement in JFK’s assassination.
LBJ trying to not implicate himself told her that it had been Dallas Texas oil executives,
renegade intelligence agents, and organized crime kingpins. LBJ also told his chief of staff
Marvin Watson that the CIA was involved in JFK’s assassination12.
I have mentioned that the Soviet Union, Cuba, and U.S. Government agencies were all
involved in the JFK assassination. However, I believe that Russia and Cuba had no involvement
in JFK’s assassination. Due to the overwhelming evidence that JFK’s assassination order came
from someone inside the Kennedy administration, from what I have found I believe that person
to be LBJ.
12
www.economicpolicyjournal.com
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Works Sited:
1). www.history.com/topics/john-f-kennedy
2). www.history.com/kennedy-becomes-fourth-president-to-be-assasinated
3). www.biography.com
4).www.abcnews.go.com
5). cia.gov/lee Harvey Oswald
6). www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/jfkruby.htm
7). www.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu
8). Economicplolicyjournal.com: Lyndon Johnson and the JFK assassination
9). www.time.com
10). Digitaljournal.com
11). www.economicpolicyjournal.com
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